Swallowed Up in Flames
by EmilyStark
Summary: Hell has no fury like a woman scorned. Elena Gilbert was on a revenge mission that involved matches and all of Stefan's journals. (Small Cursing/Intense Theme) (One-shot)


**A/N: My baby boy, Hayden, was born on June 25****th****, 2013, for those of you who have not seen the announcements on Twitter and LiveJournal. I don't know when I will be able to update, but hopefully soon! **

**I know some of you are most likely thinking, 'Ugh, another story', but this one was co-written with a good friend of mine, Jocelyn who just happened to publish her new book which she has been working on since high school. Yeah, five years of nothing but writing for her. **

**Please know for this story that Vicki is still alive and is 'friends' with Elena, not for long though.**

**Summary: On an average day, Elena Gilbert was on a revenge mission that involved matches and all of Stefan's journals.**

**So let's all give her a warm welcome by leaving reviews for this **_**one-shot**_**!**

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**Swallowed Up in Flames**

"_**If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?" -William Shakespeare**_

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The innocence once settled within the confines of the brunet eyes vanished. The sugary grin once placed upon her angelic face disappeared along with the angelic features she had branded her own. The girl no more, a woman in her place.

They say a girl learns the meaning of becoming a woman when she experiences firsthand the act of being cheated upon. The definition of cheating is as follows: to deceive or mislead somebody, especially for personal advantage. Personal advantage, the words rung through her mind like an everlasting speech one simply cannot forget. Her eyes burned with passion for the plot she had so carefully laid out the previous days, spending sleepless nights thinking of how she could possibly make him feel the way he had inflicted the pain upon her.

Had she not endured enough pain already? Did he simply wish to make her suffer further? Was losing her parents not enough? She bit her lip, blocking back the invisible tears that had begun to form at the base of her eyes. Her eyes hurt from wanting to shed tears, but finding that she had cried them all away. They merely could not create any more.

The poster hanging above her on the wall had kept her occupied whenever she recognized something that remained her of him. Ugh, she thought as the memory of Stefan helping her take off her jacket in which she had struggled to take off came flooding into the crevices of her mind. She needed a distraction, or in her terms, revenge.

A friend is someone who is to be trusted. A boyfriend is a man you can have a romantic, stable relationship with built upon the idea that each person involved will remain faithful. Ah, the irony. Her friend whom she had trusted since the day she had met her, had snuck behind her back and slept with the one person she believed was 'the one'. How wrong she was.

If he had been 'the one' for her, he would have shot down all of Vicki's advances. And she wouldn't have had to find out about the affair second-handedly through constant rumors.

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"_Did you hear about Vicki's rendezvous?"_

"_What? With who?"_

"_Get this. You know that mysterious Salvatore?"_

Elena straightened at her desk, her attention once settled on the blackboard filled with useless historical maps now seemed to be grasped by the hair and tugged to the back of the room. Her gaze flicked to the two desks in the back row, occupied by the faces behind the grating voices. The blonde nodded towards Elena's direction, driving the redhead's gaze towards the said girl.

Sensing she was spotted, Elena spun back around in her seat, heart pounding in her chest. She knew that the kids in her grade used _rendezvous _as code for _sexual encounter. _And there was only one 'mysterious Salvatore', whom she happened to be dating.

By the time her blood began boiling, she had directed her attention back to the blackboard, hoping and praying that it was only rumor. Alaric was sat at his desk, inquisitively eying the brunette with the currently brooding attitude. To speak the truth, the look seemed like a broken piece to an otherwise pristine puzzle. He would have to ask her about that later.

Glancing towards the clock, he stood, "'Righty class. Drops your pencils and raise your hands," He shot Tyler a don't-you-dare-say-it look, "I will come around to collect your quizzes. When I collect everyone's you may talk _quietly _to your friends."

Pencils dropped to the desks as hands were raised in the air, surrendering to the Almighty Alaric. Well, that was what he was thinking. When he stopped next to Tyler's desk, the sly student commented, "Back to elementary, eh, Alaric?"

Alaric lightly kicked his desk with the heel of his shoe as a warning to shut it. Before he even reached the final row, the room had erupted into meaningless chatter and gossip. The third-to-last desk, he was taken aback.

"Elena, you didn't finish." He gazed down at the half-empty quiz in his hands.

She carelessly shrugged her shoulders, "I had important things on my mind, Ric. I'll come by at lunch tomorrow and finish it, okay?" He watched her quickly leave as the bell rung, signaling the end of class.

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"That no-good, cheating, motherfucking son-of-a-bitch!" She bellowed at the top of her lungs straight into her pillow. The rest of the school day had flown by uneventfully, leaving her to ponder on the truth when, at lunch, she yet again heard rumors flying around about Stefan and Vicki.

She had searched the lunch room thoroughly, not finding Stefan, and strangely, neither Vicki. This further added to her damning conclusion that her off-again, on-again boyfriend was now having an affair with her best friend.

"Hey, Elena?" There was a soft knock at her bedroom door.

She choked down her tears, "Please go away."

A hesitation before the sound of fading footsteps was heard. Her heart slowly shattered, chest constricting as if in a boa's vise grip. _How…_she thought, _how could he?_

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The boarding house loomed over Mystic Falls with an ominous air, housing the bearers of death. Elena shivered, tears still pricking the rim of her eyes. She had to do this, she had to. She gripped the tiny box in her palm tighter as she walked towards the front door.

She tried the handle, finding it unlocked. Momentarily surprised, she glanced towards the driveway, finding no vehicles, and continued inside. The door clicked behind her as she slowly stepped up the stairs.

There was still the slightest percentage that either Damon or Stefan could still be home, even with their cars not in the driveway. Though the scale tipped more in her favor. Taking the route she knew by heart, she silently walked to his room.

The bookcase in the corner became her sole object of intent. Shelves upon shelves of books he had collected over the years, never plastered in dust due to his constant curiosity.

_Yeah, _she thought,_ constant curiosity for my best friend._

Finding no journals, she walked across the room, surveying the large area. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a large wardrobe. Piqued by the large object, she made her way towards it, gingerly opening the ancient piece of work.

Within the wardrobe she found uncaring stacks of journals, which seemed to number a little over a hundred. She smiled, "Bingo."

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Carrying the books down in groups of ten took a bit longer than expected; leading her to add five more books to the next load. By the time she had the journals laid out on the patio, beads of perspiration had begun to form on her brow. Taking the tiny box from her back pocket, she lifted the top and took the objects from within.

_He deserves this, _she thought.

Striking the red tip against the black strip, the small flame grew before she flicked it into the center of the pile of journals. The intensity of the flames grew as she stepped back to enjoy the show. Over a century of memories engulfed in the hungry ocean of orange and red.

A slight breeze brushed against the back of her neck, but she took it as the wind. Suddenly, a hand clasped her shoulder, spinning her around. She winced, feeling the fingers dig into her skin.

The calm, amused face with the slightly raised, right eyebrow took her aback, "Well, well, well. Feeling rebellious are we now?"

Elena released a laugh of relief, "You could say that."

His hand fell to his side, taking a step towards the flames, "Well, a woman scorned is a dangerous one."

Her face fell, "Did you know?"

Silence.

He remained with his back to her, staying quiet. A tear escaped from the inner corner of her eye, "Damon," Her voice broke, prompting him to slowly turn around, hands in his pockets, "Did you know?"

His eyes soaked up the face before him, never wanting to see her like this again, "He just told me."

She ground her teeth, "Where is he? Is he here?" She made for the boarding house, only to be stopped by a hand roughly gripping her upper arm.

"Elena, don't. It will only make everything worse," He walked her towards the smoldering journals in the middle of the forest, "This, I can understand; would've done the same thing if I were you."

She smiled through the tears, "Great minds think alike."

He chuckled, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and bringing her to his side. The smile never faded from her lips as she rested her head against his shoulder, not wanting to ever leave the comfort he had provided for her.

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**A/N: A little one-shot to help pass the time. My baby boy is keeping me up to all hours of the day now, so I have no idea when I will be able to update any of the stories.**

**Remember to review!**


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